BOURNE GRAMMAR SCHOOL BULLETIN
Week ending Friday 21 October 2016
From Jonathan Maddox, Headteacher
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SICILY 2016 - Report by Charlotte Harris (Year 11)
At 02:20, forty-five students and teachers set off on the long-awaited Geography trip to Sicily. The
journey went seamlessly with most of us sleeping. We arrived at Luton airport at 04:40 and
checked in. However, the flight was delayed by an hour, so we had to wait in the duty free shop.
The flight departed at 07:45 and arrived at Catania airport at 12 noon local time.
Gianluca, our tour guide, led us to the coach to go straight to Giardini-Naxos for lunch. We split
into smaller groups and explored the local town. Sadly, we had to leave to go to our hotel in
Letojanni. Once there we were given a few hours to settle into our rooms before embarking on the
four-course meal for dinner; no one was expecting so much food!
On Monday morning we had to be up for 08:00 breakfast downstairs in the hotel. Today was the
day we went up Mount Etna (the largest and most active volcano in Europe), so after breakfast we
all loaded onto the coach for the long day ahead.
Before we went up Etna we visited the lava fields. These were lava flows which had solidified in
the last few centuries. After the lava fields, we headed to the base of Mount Etna where we got a
cable car ride up most of the volcano before getting a 4x4 truck to the top.
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Etna was a lot colder than we were
expecting but luckily we had all packed
ski jackets and warm coats. We met
our tour guide Andreas, who led us
around the main crater (Etna has
several craters) and told us about the
different types of rock formations.
Some of the keener members of the
group took some volcano rock back
with them. We discovered that at some
points the ground temperature reached
300 degrees Celsius and, due to the
cold, many of us crowded around the
small cracks in the ground. We spent
the rest of the time taking photos and
admiring the views from the top of the
crater. After we had free time to
explore the town, we got on the coach to go to the Silverstone crater opposite the main one of
Mount Etna’s to look around. We finally returned to the hotel after a long day for dinner and free
time in the local town.
On Tuesday we had to be up early (06:30 breakfast!) to leave for
Alcantara Gorge to go gorge-trekking. After about an hour on the
coach we arrived and were spilt into two groups. Before we could
go into the gorge we had to put massive waders on to stop
ourselves from getting wet and cold. In a few cases, these did not
help and we got soaked anyway. We spent the morning trekking
through strong water currents and alongside rock faces and
learning about the different types of rock face.
Once both groups had been trekking, we got on the coach and
went to Taormina (a Sicilian city) for the rest of the day and went
on a walk to an Ancient Greek open-air theatre. We divided into
smaller groups and went exploring after lunch. The Greek
Theatre was a great place for scenic photographs. After spending
the day out, we returned to the hotel for yet more food and again
we had free time to go out into the town.
On Wednesday we again had to wake up
early to catch a ferry to the island home
of Mount Vulcano. The ferry journey was
the worst we had had all week and it
resulted in almost everyone feeling ill.
However, it was worth it! As soon as we
got off the ferry, the smell of sulphur hit
us but, to our luck, Vulcano was too far
away to smell the mud-baths. We started
our walk up the volcano with our guide
Emmanuel, which took about 45 minutes.
By time we were there, we were again
greeted with the smell of sulphur that was
being released from the fumaroles on the
ridge of the crater. Unlike the crater on
Etna, this one was steep and we had to
walk straight through the fumaroles.
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The trek down was actually more fun than
anticipated as we had the walk down the
mud/ashy sides of the volcano, which
collapsed, under our feet. It is safe to say
that our shoes were filled with mud and ash.
As we were running late after the trek, we
only had 30 minutes for lunch so we would
have enough time for the mud baths. The
mud baths smelt even worse than the
fumaroles. Although, the guide had warned
us we would stink for days, the majority of
us still decided to go to them anyway. Those
that did not want to go to the mud baths
went to a black sand beach where they
spent the rest of the afternoon.
The ferry home luckily wasn’t as bad as the way there and we were soon in the hotel before given
time to pack, as today was our last day in Sicily. As it was the last night in Sicily, we were all
allowed out to the beach again in the evening and some of us even got crepes and bought
souvenirs for family back home.
Finally, on Thursday we had to be up to leave at 7am to get to the airport for 9am check in. We
said goodbye to the hotel as we headed back to England after an amazing trip. I think we all found
the trip very worthwhile and great fun. Thank you to all the Geography teachers and Miss Creedon
for taking us all on the trip and for organising everything; we still stink of sulphur!
PERFORMING ARTS NEWS
Sixth Form Play - The Crucible
The Drama Studio will be lit by candlelight in mid-December, taking us back to Salem,
Massachusetts, 1692, for Arthur Miller’s powerful tragedy The Crucible, one of the great Twentieth
Century plays. It will be performed by a cast of twenty Sixth Formers and set in a traverse stage.
The cast is made up of the following students:
Betty Parris
Reverend Samuel Parris
Tituba
Abigail Williams
Susanna Walcott
Goodwife Ann Putnam
Thomas Putnam
Mercy Lewis
Mary Warren
John Proctor
Goodwife Rebecca Nurse
Giles Corey
Reverend John Hale
Goodwife Elizabeth Proctor
Francis Nurse
Ezekiel Cheever
Marshal Herrick
Deputy
Judge Hathorne
Deputy Governor Danforth
Cam Braid
Adam Hawkins
Rebecca De Lima Araujo
Francesca Gardner
Lucy Parker
Melissa Tupholme
Josh Calisto
Chloe Patman
Elani Taylor
Felix Wright
Emily Birks
Sam Hornsby
Luke Skinner
Eleni Papaioannou
Sebastian Mitchell
Toby Cowan
Andrew Atha
Peter Ransom
Andrew Martin
Jamie Morton
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Bourne Grammar School Sixth Form Presents
Arthur Miller's
The Crucible
8, 9, 10 December
‘I cannot speak but I am doubted, every moment
judged for lies…'
Tickets: bourne-grammar.lincs.sch.uk
Co-directed by Mr Moxley and Mr Turnham, The Crucible will be tense, moving and atmospheric.
Tickets will sell quickly – the play is a set text in GCSE Drama – and will be available from the
School’s website soon.
Fame! The Musical
We are delighted to announce that our 2017 musical, Fame, has now been cast and we will begin
rehearsals straight after half term. With large set-piece dance sequences, a wide range of
character parts and great music, the show will be a dynamic trip down memory lane for the
parents! The cast of 80 student performers, in addition to many backstage roles, is a school
record. The show will run for five performances, from Wednesday 15 to Saturday 18 March, with
the usual matinée on the Saturday as well. Tickets will be available from the School website soon.
Shakespeare Schools’ Festival - Report by Miss Turton (Drama) and Evie Kendrew (Year 9)
Every Monday lunch and Wednesday after school,
the Shakespeare School’s Festival cast have been
hard at work rehearsing an abridged version of
Macbeth for a performance in November at The
Key Theatre. This year’s cast workshop offered 30
students the opportunity to work on a professional
stage and to learn new techniques to help with their
performance. This was a great experience for the
students as they were able to understand more
about the play and the characters and it provided a
fantastic opportunity to make new friends with
fellow actors from the local area.
Under the direction of our student directors, Lara Shell (Year 11), Chloe Patman (Year 12) and
Eleni Papaioannou (Year 12), the performance is set to be a success.
Our talented cast is made up of the following students:
Year 8
Year 9
Year 10
Liberty Bessent
Jess Briggs
Jade Cox
Ella Greaves
Olivia Hannah
Harrison Milner
Grace Sowerby
Olympia Sims
Adam Thompson
Olivia Thompson
George Barber
Bethany Brackenbury
Freya Briggs
Noah Harwood
Evie Kendrew
Archy Lewis
Joseph Martin
Dona Mathew
Imogen Mears
James Moxley
Bertie Cliffe
Josh Dilley
Lauren Gapper
Ben Gough
Sofie Greaves
Jonathan Gutteridge
Harvey Isitt
Caitlin Morris
Jenna Taylor
Eleanor Waldock
The following report of the workshop is by Evie Kendrew (Year 9):
"All the world's a stage/And all the men and women merely players/They have their exits and their
entrances/And one man in his time plays many parts/His acts being seven ages." Though this
quote by Shakespeare is true, the Shakespeare Schools’ Festival cast have chosen to make
things a little more dramatic. We’ve come a long way since auditioning in late June, and now our
performance is only three weeks away. On Tuesday 18 October, we attended a workshop held by
Shakespeare Schools’ Festival staff at the Key Theatre.
Firstly, we were greeted by a vast stage that we would soon be performing on and pupils from
another school. Upon being invited onto stage, we were instructed to stand in a circle. Predictably,
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there was a clear divide between each
school. As a consequence, we were made
to stand next to people we did not know.
The next five minutes were spent warming
up our voices, building our confidence and
boosting group morale. A particular
favourite was having to repeat the names
of numerous different fruits in a number of
different manners. As the exercises got
more physical, we were darting across the
stage; only ever moving with purpose.
We then became the audience and
watched a scene from the other schools
performance of Hamlet. We commented
on their use of music, their physicality and
the use of their voices and then switched roles and performed a scene from Macbeth. We handled
the leap from the Drama Studio in School to the stage at the Key Theatre very well and were all
extremely pleased with how our first performance
went.
More group exercises were done after our
performances. We used movements to reinforce the
emotions we were trying to convey with our voice
and walked around in different styles. We were then
split off into our individual casts and given time to
rehearse in more detail with our directors, student
directors and one of the Shakespeare School
Festival staff. It was a “stop-and-start” process as
we were receiving constructive tips and tricks as we
moved through the scene. Nevertheless, the
finished product was worth the patience and effort.
Both schools were then brought back together and
we watched each other's performances for the last
time. We were, yet again, proud of how it went. Now the cloth is cut and the face paint and the
costumes are sorted, we can only rehearse for and
anticipate 16 November!
VOLUNTEER MINIBUS DRIVERS NEEDED
Do you enjoy driving? Have a D1 on your licence and a few hours to spare?
At times, especially after school, we have limited availability of qualified minibus drivers who can
drive our 17-seater minibuses, needed to take our students to a range of sporting fixtures or
extracurricular activities at other schools.
If you have a few hours to spare and would be interested in helping, please contact
[email protected] for further details.
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JUNIOR CHESS TEAM COMPETITION - Report by Scott Merriman (Year 8)
On Wednesday last week, eight Year 7
and 8 students from Chess Club went to
Grantham for the Regionals of the
Junior Chess Team Tournament. We
had high hopes, as last year the A team
qualified for the National Final.
When we arrived we were told that we
would be playing Kings Grantham A and
B teams and the opposite BGS team. In
the first round, BGS A's faced Kings B's,
whilst BGS B's were playing Kings A's.
Both Kings Grantham teams were very
strong and proved difficult to beat for
both Bourne teams. Our B team
struggled versus the top Kings team and suffered a 0-4 loss, however BGS A's fared better with a
3-1 victory, in which A1 lost his queen, often the decisive piece in a chess game, to then fork and
take back his opponent’s queen, ultimately winning the
50-minute game. Although the B team
lost, there were long lasting close games, which could have gone either way so they were unlucky.
Round Two was just as close as Round One, but weirdly it was between our own A and B teams.
With both the top seeded game and the bottom seeded game making it 1-1, it really was all to play
for. The 20-minute game between Bourne 2s was followed by the Bourne 3s, both with the same
result. It ended 3-1 to the A team!
So it came to the final round, and the scores were close. Kings A and Bourne A were tied first with
6 wins each; Bourne Bs, who were on 1 win, were just behind Kings Bs with 3 wins. This meant
the Round 3 pairing of Kings A versus Bourne A was to decide who qualified for the nationals. In
the other matches Bourne B had lost, then won, then lost, which meant despite playing to a very
high level against good opponents, they had unfortunately finished last. Bourne As lost their first
match on board 4; despite this loss, it meant if there were two more wins from Bourne A they would
go through. Even worse the 3rd game was a loss for BGS! Finally, as the winning blow, Bourne A
seed 1 lost a very close game, which they were controlling for the whole game, so they had been
knocked out, and Kings A team were to go through.
Overall, we were unlucky to not have a team go through, especially seeing as both teams played
extremely well and deserved to at least have one team qualify.
PARENT GOVERNOR ELECTION
The results were declared at the end of last week. I am pleased to announce the following results:
MR ROBERT PARKER has been re-elected to serve for a further four years. Robert has a son and
two daughters in the School and has been a prominent member of the Finance & Premises
Committee over a period when his professional experience and acuity have been of great value to
the Governing Body.
MRS CLAIRE HAWKINS joins the Governing Body for the first time. Claire has two sons in the
School.
It is encouraging to see that this election for Parent Governors attracted a good field of parents
who wish to support the School in its quest to do the very best it can for all the young people in its
care.
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DUKE OF EDINBURGH’S AWARD SCHEME
Due to the generously-given support of a good number of parents, former parents and friends of
the School, our DoE programme continues to thrive. I was very pleased to hear that our DoE
Manager, former BGS parent Anton Gaches, has been invited to a special service at Westminster
Abbey, which will be attended by senior members of the royal family, to celebrate 60 years of the
scheme.
The DoE Lincolnshire Statistical Report for 2015/16 landed on my desk recently and it is testament
to the commitment of our DoE team that the School features prominently in the tables of awards
achieved included therein. A total of 161 students enrolled on a DoE programme in the year to
March 2016 - the third-highest figure in Lincolnshire. Our figure of 23 enrolments on the Gold
programme was exceeded by just one centre. In terms of awards received during the same period,
our 47 Bronze, 18 Silver and - impressively - 6 Gold make the School stand out amongst the
others in the County, across both the state-funded and independent sectors.
HOMEWORK CLUB
The expression of interest in the above is such that, effective from w/c 31 October 2016, I am
pleased to announce that a homework club will be available every Tuesday after school. The
Homework club will take place in E10 from 15:40-16:40 and students must leave site as soon as
the club is finished. There are a limited numbers of places available each week and only those
students who have registered in advance may attend. If you wish your child to attend you must
notify us via [email protected] before the end of School on the Monday
immediately before the required homework session. You will be informed immediately if space is
not available for your child.
ARTWORK
The following paintings are by Year 10 students, based on drawings of bones and shells and
inspired by the work of artist Georgia O’Keeffe.
Grace
Harvey
Jude
Young
Harry Mead
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STUDENTS OF THE WEEK
Name
Year
Staff
Subject
Leo Allison
8
Miss Hazelwood
English
Jack Boorman
8
Miss Allcock
Spanish
Grace Brown
8
Mrs Somerville
Art
Jessica Gowers
8
Mrs Ellis
Systems & Control
Olivia Jones
8
Mrs Ford
Pastoral
Oliver Lee
8
Mr Topham
History
Sreya Suresh
8
Mrs Ford
Pastoral
Willow Adams
9
Miss Smallshaw
Chemistry
Ilhem Betraoui
9
Miss Forgeat
French
Edward Chandler
9
Mrs Worrall
Spanish
Sambavi Nithaharan
9
Mr Elliott
Mathematics
Gemma Parker
9
Mr Turton
Mathematics
Tiya Bali
10
Mrs Addison
English
Yasmin Hornsby
10
Mr Drinkell
Mathematics
Bethan Jeynes
10
Miss Hurrell
Spanish
Becca Stanton
10
Mrs Woolf
Chemistry
Sarah Dickens
11
Miss Hurst
Geography
Adam Jordan
11
Miss Creedon
Spanish
Chloe Ladley
11
Mrs Mohan
PE
Thomas Lavender
11
Mrs Rawnsley
Mathematics
Georgina Laxton
11
Miss Pollard
Geography
Erika Pond
11
Mr Fleckney
Physics
Remei Rai
11
Mr Smith
EPR
Lara Shell
11
Mr Edwards
Spanish
Fin Allen
12
Mr Hartley
Economics
Sophie Madgwick
13
Mr Perez
Biology
Jack Taylor
13
Mrs Pignatiello
Theatre Studies
INDIVIDUAL ACHIEVEMENTS
Taekwondo Ella Head (Year 8) recently passed her Black Belt grading after training very hard for
the past four years.
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